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Monday, May 21, 2012

Keepsakes

I'm not very good at recording memories. I take lots of photos, but I didn't get around to doing up our wedding album until I was on maternity leave before Georgie was born... 4 years after our wedding! Georgie still doesn't have a baby album done up, and I have no idea where so many keepsakes are. I'm not that good at recording milestones either.

And honestly? I don't care. I love my kids, I really do. But I don't think that that love has to be manifested in baby books and cupboards full of things that I can't bear to part with. I'm a bit of a minimalist and I'm not big on 'stuff'. I get that some people like to record each precious moment, and have boxes of things that contain memories, and I take no issue with that. But it's just never really been me.

I'm sure eventually I will get around to doing up some kind of baby book for my children. But I'm really not too worried. I have never gone to my Mother and asked 'When did I have my first haircut?' and I have no idea where my baby teeth are (they are most likely in a dump somewhere). I know that I am important to my parents, not because of the things they kept or didn't keep, and the things that they do or do not remember, but by the way they treat me. They have always had time for me, and they have consistently sown good things into my life.

I do keep some things. I am sure I will have my own special box of crayon drawings and mothers day cards and I will eventually get around to doing up my children's baby books, (probably by the time they are teenagers!) and I like to think of my blog as a bit of a record of special events as well. But I'm not too stressed about it all.

Maybe I'll regret it one day, Goodness knows childhood seems to fly by much quicker than I imagined. But I love my kids, and I'm pretty confident that they will always know that, whether they have a baby book or not.

So pleased I'm not the only one! I am a hoarder, but not an organised one..... My children's baby books do not have even one entry in them :( - maybe when they both start school (or as you say, when they are teenagers)

Of all the things I guilt and stress over, it's not keeping the keepsakes in order. I've got the books, notes, photos, etc. but really fell off the bandwagon, barely recording for number 2. You're right though. I never asked my mum about my first tooth or haircut either. How I treat them and how present I am for them should be more important. I guess I'm a bit sentimental myself so thought I should keep things for my kids. My parents kept very little as we grew up and I wish they had. I guess this is probably more about me, huh?! Bit of a 3am revelation.